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Registering, Renewing and Resting

I can’t believe the past week is almost over. Despite the numerous holidays this week, this week went by a bit too fast, don’t you think? Maybe it’s just because I haven’t been at home during any of the holidays and it made the time go faster than normal.

So what have I been up to, anyway?

WEDNESDAY. Wednesday was Quezon City day, one of the days when I’m really glad to be working in QC. I decided to take advantage of the QC-only holiday to do things that I should have done ages ago: register for Comelec and renew my driver’s license.

I woke up really early on Wednesday to avoid the lines but ended up leaving mid-morning because of some things that I’m not in the mood to talk about. I got to the Municipal Hall with my passport by half past ten, and then went for registration. I was done within an hour — really quick and easy! I am now a registered voter, five years late! I’ll write more thoughts on this on another post. :)

After that, I headed to the nearest LTO satellite office to get started on my driver’s license renewal. I almost decided to skip it, but then my mom told me to go through with it because it will only take a while. So I did.

A while. Right. Apparently, since all LTO offices in QC are closed, a lot of QC residents decided to renew their license where I am renewing, which led to a bottleneck at the drug testing center. I started my renewal process at 1:30, and by 4:00pm I still haven’t been called for the picture and fingerprints. :| The estimate was another hour until I get called and so I decided to just go back for it the next day since I still had somewhere else to be.

The missed renewal kind of made my day even more tiring, especially since it meant I had to wake up early again the next day. But such is life, I guess.

THURSDAY. One of the perks of being a Fitness First member is that I can go in the mall where the gym is really early because of my ID. That meant I could go to the drug test center really early to get the rest of the process done. I got my results by 9:30, and then debated if I wanted to get the rest of it done (I had an appointment at 10:30), and then went ahead. By 10:20 I had my shiny new license, and finally it says female instead of male! I can now use my license as a valid identification! (Because one really needs a valid ID that can be whipped out immediately, like when you’re trying to get auto insurance quote or something)

Now the next step is to actually drive…but yeah, baby steps. I’ll drive soon. :P

Thursday at work was quick and kind of distracting because we were in between holidays. I was so itching to be off work because I needed to get ready for the beach trip…and I ended up spending for a bit of stuff (which is, thankfully, reimbursible) — like contact lenses. :) Yeah, I’m back to contacts again.

FRIDAY-SATURDAY. Spent the first part of the holiday with friends at La Luz Beach Resort in Laiya, Batangas. I finally hit the beach for the second time this year! What’s even more interesting (at least for me) is that I sort of planned the whole thing. I mean, I got the reservations ready and all that. But I couldn’t have done it all alone, especially without my friends from work who joined my three friends/gym buddies and I to the trip. :) The food wasn’t really as good as Balai Laiya‘s, but there were a lot of firsts for me: first time to go kayaking, first time to go snorkeling and swimming to really deep water (with a life vest of course), and my first time to get slightly er…drunk. Okay, more like majorly tipsy. If you think I’m noisy when I’m sober, wait till you see me tipsy. Heh.

After Batangas, we drove to Tagaytay to have lunch and just hang out and buy tarts…and then went home. I was still strangely hyper and still not too tired when I got home — maybe that’s what happens when you got the much-needed relaxation?

Oh, on the downside, my diet was totally non-existent during the two days of vacation. :| Guess who hit the gym by Sunday?

SUNDAY. After the gym and talking to Pau, I went off on my own for a bit and watched The Time Traveler’s Wife. I was alone in my area in the cinema which somehow made me appreciate the movie more. It wasn’t exactly the same as the book, but the ending made my heart hurt just a tiny bit…and yes, I did cry while watching the movie. I’m not all eager to read the book again, though.

And that was my week. Sort of. I’d post pictures but my Internet is uncooperative again, so I’ll go and post pictures on another post. :)

So what about you? How was your holiday weekend? :)

Balai Laiya

So last weekend, we went to the beach.

Beach!

And yes, that photo up there is the same view we had for two days. :)

Anyway, we’ve been planning to have a beach trip (or just any trip of some sort) for the club since last year after all the work we had done, and I’m really glad we got to do it last weekend. Of course, not everyone made it, but it was okay. The weekend was just what I need to relax and have fun, you know?

So Saturday, after my long night of dinner and drinks and talks with my teammates at the previous night, we rode the rented van and headed for an almost four-hour trip to Laiya, Batangas. We were at Coco Grove last year for our company outing, and Balai Laiya is a few resorts away. After breakfast, a long ride and no sleep in the van because of all the jokes and the bumpiness of the rides, we finally got to the resort.

And let me just say: WOW.

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